Paydays and work days · rules read October 11, 2026
Business days calculator
Enter a start date and an end date; the calculator counts the business days between them, both dates included.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Business days
250
Thu, Jan 1, 2026 to Thu, Dec 31, 2026
| Calendar days (end minus start) | 364 |
| Counting both dates | 365 |
| Weeks (decimal) | 52.00 |
| Business days, both dates included | 250 |
| Weekend days | 104 |
| Federal holidays on weekdays | 11 |
“Days between” is the difference of the two dates; counting both the first and last day adds one. How this is calculated.
Business days are Monday to Friday minus the federal holidays on the dates they are observed, and this calculator counts them from the first date to the last, both included. From June 29, 2026 to July 10, 2026, two working weeks on the calendar, there are 9 business days, not 10, because Independence Day falls on a Saturday in 2026 and is observed on Friday, July 3, 2026. Counting both ends is the right choice for a span of work, such as the days a temp worked on an assignment. For a deadline phrased as "within 10 business days of" a date, the starting day usually does not count, so subtract one from the inclusive total, or use the date calculator, which starts the count on the next business day. Ten business days after October 9, 2026 is October 26, 2026, since Columbus Day on October 12, 2026 is skipped. State holidays and company closures are not removed.
Business-day deadline from a 2026 date
Deadline
July 14, 2026
| Calendar days later | 15 |
| Weekend days skipped | 4 |
| Federal holidays skipped | 1 |
The start day is not counted; day 1 is the next business day.
Inclusive count or deadline count
Two questions hide behind the phrase "how many business days". The first is the size of a span: how many working days a contractor billed between two dates, or how many days a job posting stayed open. Both the first and the last day count, and the calculator gives exactly that figure. The second is a deadline: a number of business days measured from an event. There the event day is day zero, and day one is the next business day. The mini calculator above works that way, as does the date calculator.
The two answers differ by one whenever the start date is itself a business day. From October 9, 2026 to October 26, 2026 inclusive there are 11 business days, yet October 26, 2026 is the tenth business day after October 9, 2026. Read the wording of the rule or contract before choosing.
To check a result by hand, count whole weeks first: each one holds five business days. Then add the weekdays in the leftover days and take out any observed holiday that lands on a weekday. The span from June 29, 2026 to July 10, 2026 is 12 days, one full week plus 5 more days of which 5 are weekdays, so 10 weekdays, minus 1 holiday, gives 9.
| Span or deadline | Holidays skipped | Business days off | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 29, 2026 to July 10, 2026, both included | 1 | 3 | 9 business days |
| Same span, holidays counted as work | 0 | 2 | 10 business days |
| November 23, 2026 to November 27, 2026 | 1 | 1 | 4 business days |
| 10 business days after October 9, 2026 | 1 | October 26, 2026 | |
| Same, holidays counted as work | 0 | October 23, 2026 | |
| 5 business days before December 31, 2026 | 1 | December 23, 2026 |
Observed holidays move the count, not the date on the calendar
Federal holidays that land on a weekend are observed on a weekday, which is what removes a business day. The Office of Personnel Management applies a simple rule: a Saturday holiday is observed on the Friday before, a Sunday holiday on the Monday after. In 2026 only Independence Day is affected, so July 3, 2026 drops out of every business day count that crosses it while July 4, 2026 was never a business day anyway. In 2027 two holidays fall on a Saturday and one on a Sunday, so the effect returns three times; the federal holidays page lists those dates.
The calculator also lets you count federal holidays as ordinary workdays. That setting fits a private business that stays open on some of them, and it explains why two tools can disagree by a day or two over the same dates. Over the full year the gap is 11 days: 250 business days with holidays removed, 261 without.
Business days in payroll and HR
Business days rarely decide pay itself. The Department of Labor measures overtime by hours in a fixed workweek of 168 hours, whatever the calendar says about holidays, and Fact Sheet #23 adds that holidays and weekends do not require overtime as such. Where business days do matter is in the paperwork around pay: the cutoff for submitting time cards, the processing time before a payday, the lead time for a direct deposit change. The working days page gives the month totals for planning, and the biweekly pay schedule shows how holiday paydays are pulled forward.